Memorial Coliseum site to be complete in a week

Todd yates/caller-times
Workers start the process of placing sod at the former site of Memorial Coliseum Monday.

CORPUS CHRISTI - Sod and electricity to operate an installed irrigation system are the final steps of the Memorial Coliseum demolition project, which began more than a year ago.

The project is about a week away from completion, city engineering officials said last week. One of the first events planned for the site is a finish line party for thousands of runners in the Beach to Bay Marathon on May 21.

The coliseum served as the center for community events from 1954 until the city opened the American Bank Center in 2004. The City Council voted in January 2010 to demolish the coliseum after spending more than five years looking for a private developer to reuse it.